lauantai 22. lokakuuta 2016

I had a really great time at the second incarnation of Blowup last weekend! It was so cool to meet so many friends old and new and hear some of the heaviest and best bands ever. I was the dj on Friday and this (I think...) is what I played:

torstai 13. lokakuuta 2016

Uluru is a new psychedelic stoner rock band from Instanbul, Turkey. This is their first full-length album released on two different limited vinyl editions on the excellent Tonzonen Records. You can also get this as a double CD including two EP's: Imaginary Sun and Dazed Hill (seven tracks in total), and this LP version has five of those tracks. Two shorter pieces, the title track "Imaginary Sun" and "Set Loose" from Dazed Hill are missing from the LP. Confused yet?

So what do we have here? Long, instrumental tracks of rather heavy and gloomy, but also atmospheric stuff played by a trio of guitar, bass and drums with no (noticeable) overdubs. So it's all real and pretty simple yet effective played with a lot of emotion. These young guys know their shit and can play, and the music they make is rather interesting, but not really that psychedelic or spacey. The first track "Uluru" is slow and sort of bluesy, apart from the faster ending. "Demon Spirit" is similar in style, but has more soloing and also more laid-back jam parts. Cool! "Elegy" is one of my favourites with a bit mystical, melancholic and spiritual vibe. I'm somehow reminded of Finnish band Kingston Wall, very nice! Another slow piece. The almost 11-minute "Dazed Hill" starts off side B and yes, slow jamming again. Some excellent vibes in this one as well, although they might have done something different by now like exploding my brain with some faster psych rocking. Okay, they sort of do that after the seven-minute-marker actually when the track grows and gets more intense! More of that, please. The LP is finished with the dreamy "Blind Camel" that has some Oriental touch. I wish they would use some more Turkish / Anatolian influences since I think that would make their music more unique and memorable. There are just so many bands playing this kind of heavy instrumental jam music, that's it's easy to get lost in the middle. Anyway, Uluru is a very promising band and everybody into atmospheric, psychedelic stoner/hard rock should check out this album.